Had pc problems!

I'll be back asap with my DT cards for I ♥ Promarkers and C.R.A.F.T.  Laptop had a really bad virus so has had to be fixed.

Whiff of Joy Challenge 83

The Whiff of Joy are having a DT call, so I thought I'd try out for it. I love WOJ stamps, and would be absolutely overjoyed if I got on the team, but it may be a bit out of my league at the moment.

The challenge is a fab sketch by Bev, which I've flipped. I've actually made my first Christmas card the year!

I've used the image Wee and Christmas tree coloured with Promarkers. I've added Dovecraft gems as baubles and gold Stickles on the star and around it. I've shaped the corners with an inverted corner punch, then inked the edges with Fired Brick Distress ink. The image has been matted onto green DCWV card, then red DCWV card, which has been punched at the base with a snowflake Fiskars punch.

 I've run some green DCWV card through the Cuttlebug using a Christmas embossing folder, then gone over the embossed parts with Shabby Shutters Distress ink to show it off a bit more. I've also punched some snowflakes at the base. All the punched snowflakes have gold Stickles added to them.

The poinsettia has been done using Marianne Design Creatables die cuts, then sprayed with Crafter's Companion gold glitter spray, and some gold Stickles added. I've added a washer with a sentiment sticker by Cosmo Cricket, and a metallic red brad, which also has some gold Stickles added to it.

The dp is by Cosmo Cricket. The red ribbon is from my stash. Cardstock is 6 x 6" red Bazzill.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Ann's Creative Nook Challenge 97 - Dry embossing

The Cuttlebug Spot - Christmas in July

Ooh La La Creations Challenge 58 - Christmas in July

Christmas Card Challenges #33 - Inspiration pic - (I've used the tree on the stocking as my inspiration)

Magical Crafts Challenge 19 - Christmas in July

Christmas Stamping all Year Long Challenge 57 - Bling it up

Aud Sentiments Challenge 7 - Choose your own Christmas sentiment

Stampotique Designers Challenge 11 - Christmas in July

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 60 - Out of this World!

It's time for another challenge at C.R.A.F.T. - Out of this World! It gives you the opportunity to create something to do with outer space, extra-terrestrials, distant planets, spaceships, whatever your interpretation of Out of this World is.

Our sponsor this week is one of our design team members - the lovely Eiglas. She's offering £10 worth of digis from her site Eiglassing, or she'll even draw you something of your choice! I've just been looking at her digis and they are fab.

Some fantastic news about another member of our design team - Claire - she's had some of her fantastic digis bought on license to be made into red rubber stamps!  And if you pop over to her blog, she's got some candy on offer to celebrate.

Now onto my card. I've made an A5 card for a change. The images are by Imaginisce - one of their 99p stamps, which I've coloured with promarkers. They've been matted onto green DCWV card, cut with nesties, then layered onto some blue DCW card. The sentiment was a freebie from a magazine and the ribbon is from my stash. The dp is Imaginisce Live Loud - Backstage Pass.

This was a quick card this week as I did next week's card by mistake, so then had to quickly put something together. I'm looking forward to what you come up with. New work only please.

I'm entering this card into 2 challenges:

The Crazy Challenge - Boys will be boys

The Prairie Fairy Challenge 28 - For the boys

I ♥ Promarkers Challenge 24 - Buttons

The challenge this week at I ♥ Promarkers is a nice easy one - buttons.

Our sponsor is Simon Says Stamp and the fab prize is a $15 spending spree in their online store. They even pay your postage!

The image I've used this week is a lovely digi from http://www.ingerhardingfreebies.com/  I've coloured her with various shades of blue and brown Promarkers, and cut the image out with a Labels 8 nestie. The edges are inked with Antique Linen Distress ink. The buttons are by Woodware, and I've taken a large cream one and threaded a string of pearl beads through it then curved them.

The flowers are from Magnolia, Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves are Papermania. I've added some more buttons in with the flowers, and a gold wired embellishment. The lace doily was from a set of 10 I bought in the £ shop, and I've coloured it with a pastel beige promarker. The dps are Wild Rose Studio Candy Floss and BasicGrey Kraft. I've used an EK Success punch on the Kraft paper. All the edges of the papers have been distressed and inked with Antique Linen. Cardstock is 6 x 6" Bazzill Kraft.

I'm entering this card into these challenges:

The Creative Cottage Challenge 19 - Touchy Feely

The Wild Flower Patch Challenge 24 - Lace and Sparkle (the doily is lace and there is sparkle on some of the flowers)

Digital Tuesday Challenge 68 - Happy Birthday

Passion For Promarkers Challenge 61 - Distressing

The Pink Elephant Challenge 76 - Brown

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 22 - use a digi image

Crazy 4 Challenges 46 - buttons

Totally Gorjuss Challenge 39 - Thinking of you

Raise the Bar Challenge 27 - Something old - the gold wire embellishment, Something New - the buttons,

Something Borrowed - the EK Success punch, Something blue - flowers, papers, colouring

Stamp Something - Something digital

Stamp-n-Doodle Challenge - Distressing

Please have your entries into I ♥ Promarkers by 8pm Tuesday evening.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 59 - Babies/Children

The challenge this week at C.R.A.F.T. is the theme of Babies or Children. Our sponsor is Toucan Scraps who is offering a fab prize to the winner.
For my card I've used a drums stamp, dp is DCWV, letters by K & Co., Bazzill Kraft 6 x 6" cardstock and buttons from stash.
I've made this card for my lovely nephew who is 10 on Tuesday, so Happy Birthday Dean xxx

I ♥ Promarkers Challenge 23

I'm back at last!! I haven't been in my craft cabin for a few weeks, but finally feel ready to start making cards again.

I've not long got back from a fortnight's holiday in Tenerife with my family. We had a lovely time, and even though I sat in the shade with my total sunblock on, somehow i still managed to get a little bit of colour.

Now I'm back to my DT work, I'll get on and tell you about Challenge 23 at I ♥ Promarkers. This week we'd like you to follow Lorraine's lovely sketch and include the theme of dogs. Our fab sponsor is Robyn's Fetish Digi Stamps, with the prize being a choice of 3 of her images. You're bound to find some you like as there is a great choice.

Robyn generously gave the DT some of her images to use for our cards this week. I used Over Da Wall Puppy. I coloured him with promarkers, obviously, then 3D'd the puppy and 2 of the flowers. Other items used were Bazzill 6 x 6" white cardstock and ribbon with pom poms, Anna Griffin dp, a Sizzix embossing folder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch and gems, Stardust Stickles and a doily and sentiment label from stash.

You can enter the challenge up to 3 times and we don't mind if you combine your entry with other challenges.

The deadline for entries is 6pm on the Tuesday prior to the new challenge beginning.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 55 - a sketch

It's time for another challenge at C.R.A.F.T. and this week it is a fab sketch by Ei. Our sponsor is Claire, who sells her fab digis here under the name of Hope Jacare Doodles. I'm using one of her gorgeous new images called New Shoes for my DTcard this week. I've coloured the image using promarkers, then 3D'd the shoe and the heart clasp on the bag to make them stand out more.

The dp is DCWV, cardstock is pink Bazzill 6 x 6", and the punch is a deep-edged flower punch by Martha Stewart. Other items used were black Distress ink (to stipple edges), flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, oval nesties, stardust stickles, a rub on sentiment and Crafters Companion silver Spray and Sparkle on the flowers.

I ♥ Promarkers Challenge 19 Bears

Hi everyone, sorry I'm a bit late with my DT card, I've been sleeping most of the day as I've not been feeling too good. I'm much better now, so on with the challenge.
The challenge this week at I ♥ Promarkers is to create something with a bear(s) on it. The prize is a $15 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp and they'll even pay your postage! Remember, to be considered for the draw you must use Promarkers and  your work must also be new.

For my DT card I've used Arthur by Sugar Nellie, coloured with Promarkers, then
Glossy Accents added to the image. I cut out a tag from Kraft Bazzill which I inked round the edges with Barn Door Distress ink. The dps are Boxer and Kraft from BasicGrey. I've also used a punch by EK Success and a star stamp by Great Impressions, plus some natural colour ribbon, all on a Kraft Bazzill 6 x 6" card.

I'm going to enter this card into these challenges:

Totally Papercrafts Challenge 20 - Animal Magic
The Crazy Challenge - You're a Star
Papertake Weekly - Ice cream flavours -( mocha, strawberry, lemon and mint)
Forever Friends - a cute stamp that isn't Forever Friends
Stamp Something - Happy somethings

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 54 Father's Day/Men's cards

Thanks again for all the support, messages and cards I've received over the last few weeks, they've really helped me. My mum's funeral went well. The service was lovely, and I was so proud of my 19 year old daughter who got up and said a few words. A lot of people attended, and I saw relatives I hadn't seen for years. It's a shame it was in such sad circumstances.

 Now I'm going to try to gradually pull myself together and get back to some sort of a normal routine.

Onto the challenge at C.R.A.F.T. this week now, where the theme is Father's Day or just men in general (but no kids cards, even though some men never seem to grow up!!)

For my DT card this week I've used a Dad stamp by Autumn leaves, stamped with brown ink and embossed onto blue Cored'inations card, and matted onto brown Bazzill, both cut with scalloped punches.

The top half has been embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder, and sanded to reveal the blue colour in the Cored'inations card, and the bottom half is the same Cored'inations card turned over to show the blue side, and punched with a Martha Stewart scallop punch. All the edges have been distressed with Distress Inks. The layers were put together on brown Bazzill, and grosgrain ribbon added, then blue Bazzill 6 x 6" cardstock.

Entries to C.R.A.F.T. by Wed at 8pm please, new work only.

My Mum - 09/05/1942 - 23/05/2010

My beautiful mum passed away at 8.30pm on Sunday, 23rd May. No-one could have asked for a better mum, she was such a beautiful person, inside and out. She was always there for me, even when she had her own problems. I'll always remember taking her shopping every week, she would be whizzing around on her scooter. One time really sticks in my mind, she went off on her own, then we met up an hour later, and I noticed a bra and knicker set attached to the back of the scooter. It had attached itself to her in the first shop she had been in, so she had unknowingly gone round all the shops with the underwear hanging off the back of the scooter for all to see.
We had so many tears and laughter together. She was always in pain because of her MS, but very rarely complained. She was there for me when I was diagnosed with lupus, and cried with me. She cried more for my pain, than her own.
One of my mum's proudest moments was being the first person to hold my daughter when I gave birth by ceasarean in 1991.
Eventually she was confined to a wheelchair, and gradually lost the use of her left arm as well as her legs. On April 17th my mum was admitted to hospital with multiple infections and severe dehydration. The doctors in A&E fought to save her. They were fantastic, and managed to give her another few weeks. The time she was in hospital was a real rollercoaster, she'd be really ill one minute, then giggling with us the next. She battled urine infections and pneumonia, then finally came home on Monday 17th May. We had a hospital bed set up for her in the front room so we could be with her at all times. The infections kept coming though, and mum finally gave up fighting on Sunday, 23rd May.
I haven't really taken it all in yet, it's all so surreal. We've been so busy with all the arrangements, that we haven't had time to think too much. Mum's funeral is on Wednesday, 2nd June, which would have been her's and my dad's 48th Wedding Anniversary.
Thanks so much to everyone for the lovely messages I've received over the last few weeks, it's meant a lot to me. Maybe my blog isn't the right place to put this, but my mum was such a large part of my life, that I wanted to do a tribute to her.

R.I.P. Mum, I love you so much. xxx

I won't be around for a while......

My mum is seriously ill so I'm spending as much time at her bedside as possible.

Dad's Birthday Card

I find it so hard to make cards for men, so I thought I would challenge myself to use my alcohol inks that have been laying in a drawer for ages virtually unused. I used 3 colours and the blending solution on acetate and was quite pleased with how it turned out. I also made a bookmark for my Dad with the left over acetate. The sentiment stamp is by Autumn leaves, stamped and embossed in green. I used a couple of nesties, then added it to the card with foam pads. The gorgeous butterfly is by K&Co. and the pearls are Prima. The lace and ric rac are from stash. I very rarely make a card without a cutesy image, so it was fun, but challenging to try a different style.

I'm going to enter this card into Pile It On Challenge 14 - Say it with words. I was one of the people who suggested this challenge, so I really wanted to enter it.

Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge - Open, anything goes

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 18 - A challenging challenge - (this was certainly that with no image and the use of alcohol inks)

Design Dollies - Let's take a walk in the park - (I've entered this as the alcohol inks remind me of the colours you would see in the park, and also the butterfly, which you would see in Summer or Spring)

CAS-tastic Challenge 1- Anything CAS - (I'm not sure if this card would be classed as CAS, but compared to my normal style, for me it is CAS)

We had a lovely day on my Dad's birthday with all the family together for a birthday tea. I love spending time with him, and even at 44 I'm still a daddy's girl lol.

Delightful Sketches New Challenge and new releases at Digital Delights

It's new release day today from Digital Delights of the Under the Sea images. It's a fab new collection.

We've also got a new challenge for you at Delightful Sketches. We are being sponsored this fortnight by Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts who have a fabulous prize for our winner. They're offering a set of Oregon Raindrops in every colour. The value of this prize is $25!! The DT have used Oregon Raindrops, brads and ribbon on their cards supplied by our sponsor. The Oregon Raindrops are gorgeous and such great quality.

For my card, I've made an oval shaped easel and followed the fab sketch. I've used the octopus, seahorse, starfish, sentiment and background images - they all just go so well together! I've coloured with promarkers and cut out the images. I've added the octopus and seahorse to the background, as well as some Oregon Raindrops. The dp is K&Co., blue ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, black ric rac from stash. I've also used a button, Stickles, Glossy Accents, and wiggly eyes on the starfish.

I'm sad to say that this will be my last creation for Digital Delights on their Design Team. I have decided to step down for family reasons. Hopefully I'll be able to enter some of their fabulous challenges when I have time. I have really enjoyed being a part of such a great team and would like to thank Wendy for giving me the opportunity to work with her wondeful images and for believing in me.

I'm entering this card into these challenges:

Cards For Men Challenge 8 - Fancy Folds

The Crazy Challenge - Don't call me flat

Paper Sundaes Challenge 13 - Make a scene

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 46 A Sketch

This week at C.R.A.F.T. we have a sketch for you. The prize is a fab Cosmo Cricket Mini Deck Garden Variety.
I've made a little clutch bag for this challenge. I've used a template from WS Designs. The bag is made with chocolate colour pearl card. I've added a 3D sentiment sticker by Dovecraft, and the gem swirl is by Prima. The dp on the flap is Tim Holtz,which I've punched with a fan MS corner punch. The butterfly is also Tim Holtz, punched with a Martha Stewart punch, to which I've added a couple of gems and my clear Copic Spica pen. The flap is kept shut by a BasicGrey magnetic clasp.
I'm going to enter this into the challenge at Paper Makeup Stamps Make Up for the Weekend #23 - to use a template of some kind.

I ♥ Promarkers Challenge 10

We have a fab sketch for you to follow this week at I ♥ Promarkers. Our sponsor is Whimsy Stamps, and the winner will get a gift certificate for $15 to spend in their online store. The Design Team were all lucky enough to be given some of the new images. I've used the Love Bunnies by Katie Sowa, and a sentiment from the Love You Sayings by Raindrop Echo Designs
The image is coloured with a selection of grey, pink and blue promarkers, and I've added a little bit of white flower soft to the female bunny's tail. I've used my X Cut circle shape cutter to cut out the image, as it was too big for Nesties, then inked the edges with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. I've added the pricked holes by using my Tim Holtz ruler and a pricking tool, then joined them up with a black fine tip promarker pen to look like stitching. I've used this effect on all the papers. I've also rounded all the corners for a softer look. The dp is from a Tim Holtz stack (my favourite papers at the mo), and the backing paper is a grey/silverish sheet of Bazzill. The pearls with roses are by Prima, which I've trimmed and added to the corners. The silver ribbon, button and pearl string threaded through the button are from my stash.. I've used a white 8 x 8" card blank.
I'm planning to give this card to a special couple on their wedding day.
Please remember that to be included in the prize draw, your work must be new, you must follow the sketch, and provide a link from your entry post back to the I ♥ Promarkers blog.

I'm entering this card into these challenges:

Your Next Stamp Challenge 14 - Stitching real or faux
Polka Doodles Week 14 Challenge - Wedding Celebration
Prairie Paper and Ink Challenge - Friday Sketch (mine's been turned)
Sew Many Challenges Week 10 - Stitching
Stamp Something Challenge - Stitching
Hand Full of Stamps #23 - Digi It
My Time To Craft Challenge 87 - Pretty Pearls
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Cutie Pie
Tuesday Morning Sketches #41 - Soft hues, flowers, ribbons (the flowers are the 4 roses in the top corners)
Totally Stampalicious - A Critter card
Aly's Sunday Sketch #15 - Buttons
The Corrosive Challenge Blog #59 - Textures
Paper Jewels April Challenge - Sewing and buttons
Magical Crafts Challenge 12 - Animal Antics
Lili of The Valley Challenge 50 - Blue and Silver
Our Creative Corner Challenge - Bows
Stampin' For the Weekend Challenge - Ribbons and Bows